The Philadelphia Eagles and “Big Dom” – regardless of how beloved the “Papa Bear” head of security might be inside team HQ – just created a problem for the NFL.
And therefore they’ve created a problem for themselves, as is being pointed out by 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan following San Francisco’s … blowout win on Sunday at The Linc.
“I just can’t believe someone not involved in a football game can taunt our players like that and put their hand in our guy’s face,” said Shanahan, recalling the oddity of Eagles security guard Dom DiSandro involving himself on the sideline in a conflict with 49ers linebacker Dre Greenlaw.
Greenlaw was ejected, and rightfully so; the loss of a starting player could have taken its toll on the 49ers. (Alas, the Eagles, in dropping to 10-2, didn’t play well enough to test that.)
And then DiSandro was ejected from the game – also rightfully, because innocuous sideline staffers and hangers-on are simply not allowed to confront players.
Kyle Shanahan on the incident with Dre Greenlaw and Eagles Security Officer Dom DiSandro:
“I just can’t believe someone not involved in a football game can taunt our players like that and put their hand in our guy’s face.” pic.twitter.com/PJcID8ycPx
— KNBR (@KNBR) December 4, 2023
And yes, there is actually a rule that covers this, which reads thusly in Section 1, Article 8 of the NFL rulebook:
Non-player personnel of a club (e.g., management personnel, coaches, trainers, equipment personnel) are prohibited from making unnecessary physical contact with or directing abusive, threatening, or insulting language or gestures at opponents, game officials, or representatives of the League.
What the rule does not seem to include is … What if the “prohibited” person does it anyway?
Related: WATCH: Niners LB Dre Greenlaw Ejected After Poking Eagles Security Chief in Face
So a 49ers player is out. And an Eagles guy in street clothes is out. But as the rules are applied here … so what? That’s hardly a fair trade. And if that’s all the NFL is going to do about it? What’s to stop every team from assigning a “security guard” to engage in a fight with an opposing player in hopes of gaining a double-ejection?
There are lines that cannot be crossed. This is non-negotiable and not debatable. That goes for the Little League dad who gets so upset that he walks onto the field … it goes for the fan who throws bottles and trash at players … and it goes for what happened here.
When a player does cross that line, the system is in place to punish him. When a “head of security” – or a mascot or a janitor or a beer vendor – does so? “Big Dom” just forced the NFL to create a new rule. … and it might have to be a rule retroactively enforced against the Eagles so this never happens again.
